Whole Foods to open Commack store Wednesday; Amazon lowers prices
The Commack Whole Foods, at 120 Veterans Memorial Hwy., opens the same day its parent Amazon is lowering prices at all Whole Foods stores with an emphasis on organic produce. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Whole Foods Market’s fourth Long Island store opens Wednesday in a Commack shopping center that hadn’t had a full-service supermarket since a King Kullen closed two years ago.
The store opens the same day Amazon is lowering prices at all Whole Foods stores and will offer more savings to Amazon Prime members. The move is part of an effort to convince more Prime members to shop at the high-end grocery stores that have been nicknamed "Whole Paycheck" for years, despite previous price cuts.
Located at 120 Veterans Memorial Hwy., the Commack Whole Foods will have fresh produce, full-service butcher and seafood departments; an in-house bakery; a hot and cold prepared foods section; a coffee and juice bar; beer from local producers; and 142 bins of bulk scoop items, the Austin, Texas-based grocer said in a statement Tuesday.
Taking 75 percent of King Kullen’s former space in Veterans Memorial Plaza, the 45,000-square foot Whole Foods also will include a fast-casual eatery, called Pizza Parlor, that will serve wine and locally brewed beer on tap.
With the chainwide price cuts announced Tuesday, shoppers will save at least 20 percent on hundreds of items with an emphasis on organic produce, the company said in a statement.
“The standards for how our products are sourced, grown and produced are powerful and set Whole Foods Market apart from the competition,” Whole Foods CEO John Mackey said in a statement Monday. “We will continue to focus on both lowering prices and bringing customers the quality they trust and the innovative assortment they expect from our brand.”
And as an incentive to become Prime members, customers are offered a special $10 off a $20 purchase coupon with an offer found at Amazon.com/WholeFoods10.
Richard Luchese prepares a cut of beef at Whole Foods in Commack, which includes a full-service butcher shop, on Tuesday, a day before the market's grand opening. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Amazon Prime members will get an additional 10 percent off 20 deals each week and can save more on at least 300 items regularly stocked in stores.
For instance, this month Prime members will save an extra $2 on organic asparagus and strawberries, both $2.99 per pound. Prepared sandwiches and wraps will be 20 percent off.
This is the third time Amazon has cut prices at the grocer. The Seattle-based ecommerce giant first slashed prices at Whole Foods in 2017 after completing a $13.7 billion acquisition of the chain and immediately cutting prices on organic staples, such as apples, eggs, salmon, tilapia, beef, chicken, baby kale and almond butter.
But Amazon has had a hard time keeping Whole Foods' prices lower.
In addition to produce from around the world, the new Whole Foods in Commack offers a coffee and juice bar, beer from local producers,142 bins of bulk-scoop items and a fast-casual eatery. Credit: Newsday/Steve Pfost
Whole Foods’ other Long Island stores are in Manhasset, Lake Grove and Jericho.
Closed in March 2017, the Commack King Kullen was an original tenant in Veterans Memorial Plaza, which was built in the late 1990s.
With wire reports
Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.
